Seminars

QUCEH Seminar Series

We organise a bi-weekly in-person seminar at Riddel Hall during term time. Please contact Chris Colvin to find out more about our seminar series.

Next Seminar: 29 November 2024
Gabriele Cappelli
Shaping growth: different types of human capital and European regional incomes (1870-1950)
We provide a new fully-harmonised dataset across more than 222 regions of France, Italy, Spain, and Sweden in the period 1870-1910 and 1910-1950. Using a beta-convergence framework, we investigate the extent to which different types of human capital - basic, intermediate, and upper-tail- shaped economic growth. Our findings, supported by a 2SLS analysis, show that mass education (basic human capital) was the most significant factor of regional growth, and convergence, in both periods. During the First Globalization, secondary education (intermediate human capital) and universities (upper-tail knowledge) were also important determinants of catching up across latecomer economies. In contrast, during the Interwar period, it was mass education – and to some extent Vocational and Technical Education (VTE) – that played the most important role in fostering growth and allowing convergence across European regions. This study provides robust external validation for the education-growth nexus. On the one hand, we provide new data on European regional growth and their potential determinants. On the other hand, we contribute to the debate on the sources of economic growth during the Second Industrial Revolution, showing that, among the proximate causes of growth, mass education was the main driving force of growing prosperity.

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QUCEH Seminar Schedule: 2024-2025

Full Archive of Past Seminar Schedules:

International Macro History Online Seminar:
The International Macro History Online Seminar (IMHOS) is a collaboration of an international network of universities. Administered by the CEPR, it brings macroeconomic history topics to an interested public on a bi-weekly basis. QUCEH is one of the participating organisations.